1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to building heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (“HVAC”) systems and, more particularly relates to an improved apparatus and method for hanging a heating, ventilation and air conditioning unit serving an interior building space.
2. Description of Related Art
Interior spaces of homes and other buildings are typically provided with automatically controlled temperatures using one or more air handling units that provide a recirculating flow of air drawn out of the conditioned space, flows through the air handling unit by an air blower therein, is heated or cooled as necessary within the unit, and then flows back into the conditioned space. Hangers for mounting an HVAC unit in a building are known in the prior art. More specifically, by way of example, U.S. PreGrant Publication No. 2007/0145222 to Rausch discloses a method and device for a hanging device that is used to support ductwork, pipes, wiring, conduit and the like from support beams such as I-Joists.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,596,962 to Karamanos discloses, prior to installation into a HVAC system a fully-functional zone-control unit which also includes a pair of caps which seal the ends of the piping assemblies, and a pressure gauge for sensing pressurization of the piping assemblies and coil which the caps seal. A pressure gauge permits testing to insure that the piping assemblies and coil are leak free.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,261,256 to Pattie, et al. discloses a variable-duct support assembly for mounting a duct. The variable-duct support assembly includes rails having a groove which has a pair of support brackets for supporting a duct. The support brackets are coupled to one or more flexible bands for clamping the duct between the support brackets and the flexible bands.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,083,151 to Rapp discloses a laterally-reinforced duct saddle for hanging a length of horizontal flexible duct from a supporting structure. The duct saddle includes a generally flat, elongated blank adapted for bending around and receiving a portion of the flexible duct.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,866,579 to Pilger discloses a boot hanger mounting bracket assembly formed of a sturdy yet bendable material so that it can be configured and adjusted on-site. Once configured, the boot hanger mounting bracket assembly is secured to the building structure by securing a pair of boot hanger arms to the ceiling joists, wall studs or other support structure to provide a positive inexpensive way to mount the duct components.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,719,247 to Botting discloses a hanger for seating a flexible duct. The hanger has one end that can be attached to a support structure, such as a beam or joist, and a second end with a cradle for receiving as duct that can be freely seated in the cradle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,741,030 to Moore, et al. discloses an air duct starting collar having integral clips used for installation in a planar surface of an air duct. A flange of the device permits variance in hole size, and roughness of the hole's edge.